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Just answered my own question. I bought $250 worth of Eastwood tools to do my own brake lines. I like tools!
Watched a couple of videos on YouTube and with the right tools it will be easy and perhaps even fun (at least not aggravating). Old stuff is getting ripped out.
FWIW...progress on the frame boxing. Ran out of welding wire, but only 30 minutes (when get time) from closing this up and mounting the 1979 F-250 sector. Angle plate partially welded in. cardboard mock up of core support base to see how it interferes. May need a little bit of trimming on the core support, but didnt want to go any further back.
Can you take detailed pics of your plate and welding of the plate please. I am hoping to use yours as a guide to do my steering upgrade. Thanks in advance
Cbrown, i can’t help but respond to your question on prebent brake lines. I bought a $225 71 highboy kit of a reputable SS prebent for my 72 and i ended up not using 80% of the kit because they were nowhere near accurate to the original bends on mine that pretty much followed the factory mounting clips. Then, SS was a pain to rebend. Not to say you wouldn’t have success with a premade kit. I ended up taking my originals to the local brake/clutch supply and they cut new to length and put appropriate ends on, and matched/bent to shape. Shoulda done that in the first place instead of blowing a wad on prebent! Maybe mock up what you need based on your originals plus use bailing wire to shape what you’d need to your new brake MC assembly and have a shop cut and shape or do it your self? I bought a NPD valve assembly that eventually leaked then got rid of that and just bypassed it all using fittings until i get time to install a NOS valve (with the piston that trips the dash brake light).
Sam
Can you take detailed pics of your plate and welding of the plate please. I am hoping to use yours as a guide to do my steering upgrade. Thanks in advance
Cbrown, i can’t help but respond to your question on prebent brake lines. I bought a $225 71 highboy kit of a reputable SS prebent for my 72 and i ended up not using 80% of the kit because they were nowhere near accurate to the original bends on mine that pretty much followed the factory mounting clips. Then, SS was a pain to rebend. Not to say you wouldn’t have success with a premade kit. I ended up taking my originals to the local brake/clutch supply and they cut new to length and put appropriate ends on, and matched/bent to shape. Shoulda done that in the first place instead of blowing a wad on prebent! Maybe mock up what you need based on your originals plus use bailing wire to shape what you’d need to your new brake MC assembly and have a shop cut and shape or do it your self? I bought a NPD valve assembly that eventually leaked then got rid of that and just bypassed it all using fittings until i get time to install a NOS valve (with the piston that trips the dash brake light).
Sam
Hey Sam!
Thanks for the input. I saw a Eastwood flaring tool ($199, fits in vice) and a couple other Eastwood tools being used in a video. Bought 25’ of brake line and am just going to make all my own. Will post pics, etc... Think it is the way to go.
Interesting to see the differences in the 4wd frame for the steering box mount, shackle bushing and other things. The 2WD frame is much simpler and is working well for my Frankenstein project.
Thanks for the input. I saw a Eastwood flaring tool ($199, fits in vice) and a couple other Eastwood tools being used in a video. Bought 25’ of brake line and am just going to make all my own. Will post pics, etc... Think it is the way to go.
Chris
cbrown9064
That tool is gem and you will be glad you have it when you start to make your lines. It flares ends fast and perfect every time and is the one I used it make all new brake lines for my build. Make sure you use a little lubricant on each flare process to keep the friction down and extend the die life.
Thanks for the input. I saw a Eastwood flaring tool ($199, fits in vice) and a couple other Eastwood tools being used in a video. Bought 25’ of brake line and am just going to make all my own. Will post pics, etc... Think it is the way to go.
Chris
Good choice. This is definitely the way to go. I bought the pre-bent set for my truck and had to modify them quite a bit. I still have a couple runs on my wall to use elsewhere. I'm not sure it's the manufacturer's fault. There is so much variation and modification of these trucks over 50 years, can't really blame them. With the good flaring tools, making your own lines is the only way to go.
Good luck.
Yes, yes and yes. Someone said you should be able to tap them in with a mallet when frozen. Not a chance. It is like they are the wrong size.
If I need the shells for poly, that is not going to work, obviously. Also, got bushings from LMC for this and they were not the right size, way too big. Sent those back and got the exact part number per my parts catalog.
Arrgghhh....
I also bought bushings from LMC, they have the two numbers in their catalogue mixed up, the shackle bushings are marked in their book as the front and the fronts are marked as the back. I bought 4 of the small ones (45-1368) and two of the large (45-1331) for my truck and got 4 large and 2 small. I've been emailing back and forth with them for weeks trying to explain where their issue is and try to convince me to give me my dollars back for all of the bushings that I am not going to use. Like any large business nothing can be done quickly, it has to be seen by 35 people first.
Maybe I should just get a roll of tubing and "roll" my own lines with the originals for a semi-pattern? Never done that before, is it aggravating? That is the main reason I wanted to get the LMC "kit" as it would probably be less aggravating.
Thoughts?
If you have older vehicles or do much work on vehicles in general this is the way to go for sure. I always bend up all of my own lines. It really is simple, it can be aggravating but the lines can be bent any which way you'd like to create a professional looking job and its cheap cheap cheap. I can't tell you how many hundreds of feet of brake line I've made with my flaring kit. I keep a roll of 3/16 line on hand with a mismatched assortment of ends so that when we blow a brake line it's a quick job to get back on the road whether its a weekend or not.
The flares can be tricky to get perfect, you'v got to make sure that the line is cut nice and square and that the die presses down straight onto or you can end up with lopsided flares, They're easy to cut off and redo, another mistake that I still make although I'm ashamed to admit is making a beautiful flare on the end of the line and then realizing that I never put the end on it.
I also bought bushings from LMC, they have the two numbers in their catalogue mixed up, the shackle bushings are marked in their book as the front and the fronts are marked as the back. I bought 4 of the small ones (45-1368) and two of the large (45-1331) for my truck and got 4 large and 2 small. I've been emailing back and forth with them for weeks trying to explain where their issue is and try to convince me to give me my dollars back for all of the bushings that I am not going to use. Like any large business nothing can be done quickly, it has to be seen by 35 people first.
If you have older vehicles or do much work on vehicles in general this is the way to go for sure. I always bend up all of my own lines. It really is simple, it can be aggravating but the lines can be bent any which way you'd like to create a professional looking job and its cheap cheap cheap. I can't tell you how many hundreds of feet of brake line I've made with my flaring kit. I keep a roll of 3/16 line on hand with a mismatched assortment of ends so that when we blow a brake line it's a quick job to get back on the road whether its a weekend or not.
The flares can be tricky to get perfect, you'v got to make sure that the line is cut nice and square and that the die presses down straight onto or you can end up with lopsided flares, They're easy to cut off and redo, another mistake that I still make although I'm ashamed to admit is making a beautiful flare on the end of the line and then realizing that I never put the end on it.
Agreed...thanks for the input! I am feeling that $250 spent on brake line tools will more than pay for themselves...
As to the bushing thing... f it. I just went with poly. Perfect fit!
As far as LMC, they have a great return policy. Simply put the crap in a box, send it back to them, and you get your money back. No questions. Have never seen a simpler return process...
Various things keep aggravating me. Shackle bushings (poly) were the wrong thing. Website specified 9/16" ID on the sleeve, but the parts they shipped in the box were wrong. 1/2" ID. Arrgghh!
Various stuff like that. So I went for the easy win today. Horn wont work or cancel turn signals, but I am still calling it a win!
OK, frame boxing complete, box mounted, new cross member, NOS spring mounts, new springs and bolts all installed. Will detail out the frame boxing. Mounting the plate was harder, as the output shaft on the box needs to be nearly vertical, otherwise it hits the frame.
Needed to flapper wheel this area of the box, to get it to sit down on frame and allow the front to come up. The way we did the boxing of the frame, it originally sat too high 3X5X1/4" angle steel shaped into position. Attaches to outside of main frame rail, and reinforces the cross member. As good better than before! The frame was notched sideways about 2-1/4" to the inside. Could be more, definitely not less, as I needed to use 4.5" bolts and had just enough clearance. 4" bolts would have worked with lock washer and normal nut, but I chose to use nylon lock nuts.. Notched back about 1.5". Consider this a minimum dimension, but it worked out for me. This was the tricky part. I bought the eBay frame kit. Only used this plate and the spacers (to prevent frame crushing. Needed to tack weld this in and test fit box several times. Ending up flapper wheeling plate to get it to rotate clockwise (as seen from this direction) to get the output shaft of the box more vertical. Basically tacked plate on, used short bolts on box side run through holes in box and plate (not frame yet) to position box. Then rotated sector to see if arm would clear. Welded in. I had cut a piece of 3/16" plate for use on top. eBay kit had a piece where top of frame would have been cut away and flat piece welded in. The short welds are where we cut the top plate and hammered it down to meet rotated plate with holes. Finished Product! Cardboard outline of core support, centered in hole in frame. Mucho clearance! Sector centered (lock to lock). 14.5" back! 14.5" is length of stock 78-79 F-250 drag link. Win! Pittman arm clearance, full left lock. Pittman arm clearance, full right lock. Pittman arm clearance, centered 4"X4" cross member installed with new spring mounts, box mounted, new springs! All mounted up! 4.5" x 1/2" bolts. Could have gone shorter without nylon lock nut...
In case it does not work later, the seller was "battlebornbrakes" I think he is a member here, but not sure of his name. JacobJ on this forum is the seller of the kit.
Below are the pictures from his ad, in case the link does not work later. I bought his kit mainly for the plate with holes and spacers. Could have used more if I would have cut my frame like he depicts. Also, I wanted to use that 1/4" Angle Steel for the "notch" instead of stitching two plates together. Either way is fine, I just like the looks of my way better. The cost of the kit from battlebornbrakes was $75 and very much worth it in my opinion. Save at least another afternoon of fab work trying to get that plate right.
In neither case is this a "bolt in" arrangement. Fiddling with grinders, flapper wheels and tack welds required. But it paid off in the end.
Last edited by cbrown9064; Mar 26, 2020 at 12:29 PM.
Reason: added forum user name
